


A New Direction

by BirdMonster



Series: FE Rarepair Week 2019 [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M, Post-Time Skip, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 21:26:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20896355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirdMonster/pseuds/BirdMonster
Summary: Ashe and Cyril go to visit Lord Lonato's grave after the war.Written for FE Rarepair Week with the prompt "Change."





	A New Direction

The autumn air sent a bit of a chill through Ashe, but he didn't mind. He was focused as he moved-- slow but sure of his direction. There were two bouquets of flowers in his arms. Cyril, who walked closely behind, had two more. 

"It is convenient that they're all here," Ashe remarked, glancing down at a few gravestones as he passed them. "I didn't get to attend any of the funerals other than Christophe’s, but at least I can visit them easily enough."

"You didn't?" Cyril asked. "Why not?"

"Well, my parents died of a plague. They were both quarantined before their death, so I didn't even get to see them in their final moments… I'm not sure if they got a proper funeral or if their bodies are even here." Ashe stopped in front of two small gravestones. He smiled at them and bent a knee, placing the flowers in front of each one. "It's the thought that counts, I guess," he said. "This is all I can do now… so I'll continue to do so." Straightening back up, he took the remaining bouquets from Cyril with a quiet thanks. "And Lonato," he continued. "I just didn't have the time to attend because I had to go back to school. That… that's something I truly regret. I had a hand in his death and I couldn't even pay him proper respects. And after everything he did for me, too…"

"Ashe…" Cyril said, a sympathetic look on his face. "I'm sorry."

Ashe shook his head. "That's all way in the past now. There's nothing I can do about it. Anyway, Lonato and Christophe's mausoleum is right over here. It really is beautiful." And it truly was. Adorned with marble pillars and stunning jeweled mosaics, the mausoleum stood in the center of the cemetery. There were already numerous bouquets of flowers placed in front of it, so Ashe just placed his own wherever they would fit. 

He stared up at the mausoleum then, his chest clenching a bit with grief. It had been over five years since Lonato died, but there were times when the wound still felt fresh. Looking at the place where his adoptive father rested, all the pain Ashe had pushed away during the war bubbled back up to the front of his mind. Tears stung at the corner of his eyes, but he shook his head as if to shake them away.

Cyril must have noticed as he moved closer to Ashe, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "It really is pretty," Cyril said, following Ashe's gaze. Ashe smiled. He wrapped a hand around Cyril's waist and pulled him closer. "Are ya gonna be okay?" Cyril asked, shifting to accommodate Ashe's embrace.

"Yeah… yeah, I'll be all right. It's just a lot to take right now, I guess. I haven't been here since before the war started."

"He'd be proud of you, ya know. Takin' up his title and everything."

Ashe smiled at those words. He wasn't sure how true that was, but he appreciated the sentiment nonetheless. "I hope you're right. A lot has changed since he died. Maybe now, he'd… forgive me."

"You did what ya had to, Ashe. There's nothing to forgive."

"Maybe so." Ashe rested his head against Cyril's and closed his eyes. "I wish he could have met you. He'd like you."

"Ya sure about that…?" Cyril asked.

"I am. He really valued hardworking people. Besides, he wouldn't hate someone I love so much."

"I-if you say so."

Ashe gave a light laugh. He could hear the blush in Cyril's voice-- it was rather cute. "Thank you, Cyril."

"Huh? For what?"

"For coming here with me. It means a lot."

"Of course-- I wanted to go. And I'll go with you next time if ya want."

"I'd like that." Ashe and Cyril gave Lonato's mausoleum one last look before they started on their way back home. Even though a fresh dose of grief was now weighing on Ashe's shoulders, he felt some relief, too. Back when his parents died, he thought he would never be happy again. That fear absolved when Lonato took him in and helped him realize his dream. But after Lonato was killed, Ashe was filled with the same heavy sense of hopelessness that he felt as a child. He learned how to hide it well enough, but it was always there. A terrible feeling of uncertainty and pain that lingered in the back of his mind.

During the war, that sense of hopelessness had grown. But so had his relationship with Cyril. And in the end, he acquired a new feeling of happiness. He got invited back to house Gaspard to lead and achieved his goal of becoming a knight far sooner than he ever could have dreamed of. And now, he was sharing a life with the man who had helped him feel whole again. Despite the numerous losses he suffered throughout his life, Ashe always gained something more. 

Of course, he wished things could have been different. That his family could have all still been there with him. But looking to his side and seeing Cyril standing there, Ashe was able to smile, content with the direction his life had gone.


End file.
